


A Fight We Can't Give Up

by kennagirl



Category: Glee
Genre: 5+1 Things, Activism, Breasts, Gen, Season/Series 03
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-01
Updated: 2013-10-01
Packaged: 2017-12-27 18:14:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/982068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kennagirl/pseuds/kennagirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In honor of breast cancer awareness month, Tina, being the proud woman that she is, wears her new shirt to school. The people of McKinley, being the not-so-aware people they are, take it literally. </p>
<p>Five people that don’t understand Tina’s shirt and one who does.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Fight We Can't Give Up

**Author's Note:**

> Tina's shirt can be purchased [here.](http://www.cafepress.com/feelyourboobies.616670698)

Tina was switching out the novel she had been reading for English the night before with her history textbook for first period when Mike came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and ducking down to kiss her cheek. She playfully knocked her head into his as she shut her locker. “Good morning.”

“Good morning to you, too,” he responded, grip loosening to let her turn around. She gave him a proper hello kiss, full on the lips and as much tongue as they could use in school without getting in trouble. They broke apart smiling and he looked her up and down like he did every morning before he told her she looked beautiful today. He used to just tell her, but she insisted on informed opinions. Instead, his eyes caught on the front of her tank top. “Umm…”

“Isn’t it great?” Tina asked. “I found it online and thought it was hilarious, but it gets the point across.”

“What point?” he said, toying with the zipper on the bottom of her jacket like he wanted to zip it up and hide her shirt. “That you want to get to second with half the school?”

She smacked his hand away. “It’s to raise breast cancer awareness. Self-checks are an excellent first prevention tool that not many girls know about, so I’m trying to spread the word.”

“By telling them to feel you up?”

Tina rolled her eyes at her boyfriend. “By getting people to notice and ask questions. Besides,” she pecked him on the cheek, “you’re the only one with an all-access pass.” She caught him blushing lightly before she turned away to go meet up with the girls before classes started. They might have a slightly more reasonable reaction to her one-woman campaign.

* * *

Quinn and Mercedes were already in the bathroom when she stepped inside, so she made small talk while touching up the eyeliner that she had rushed through that morning. Quinn raised an eyebrow at the shirt, but didn’t say anything. Mercedes on the other hand, demanded an explanation in a way that made it clear she was questioning Tina’s sanity. A short spiel similar to her conversation with Mike had the girls nodding along.

“Well, that’s a more proactive approach than simply buying all the pink merchandise currently on the market,” Rachel, who had come in during the discussion, admitted.

“Which is exactly why I’m doing it.” Tina hooked her bag on the corner of a stall door, ending her part of the discussion while she used the restroom.

“Of course,” Rachel continued, “Dad and Daddy tend to buy them anyway to support the cause. Just like the barbecue tickets the Boy Scouts sell door-to-door.”

The door opened, accompanied by Santana saying, “Do you even eat barbecue?”

“No,” Rachel said, “but it’s nice to help them anyway, regardless of their homophobic policies. Daddy always says that just because the organization is lead by idiots doesn’t mean that young boys shouldn’t get to go camping. Dad usually starts grumbling then, but I think that’s mostly because he’s never liked camping.”

Tina flushed and opened the stall door, leaving her bag while she washed her hands. Santana was applying yet another layer of mascara while Brittany was perched on the ledge meant to hold purses. She swung her legs back and forth for a moment, then jumped off the tile, striding over to Tina at the paper towel dispenser.

As soon as Tina turned around to toss the towel in the trash can, she was struck still by Brittany’s hands on her chest.

“They’re squishier than Santana’s.”

“That’s because Santana has silicone in hers,” Quinn reminded her from the mirror where she was touching up lip gloss.

“Britt-Britt, stop groping Tina,” Santana said, glaring at Quinn.

“But her shirt said--”

“It’s a breast cancer awareness thing,” Tina said. “It’s just a reminder to check yourself for lumps.”

“Oh.” Brittany looked a little disappointed as she dropped her hands. “You have really nice boobies.”

At a complete lack of anything else to say, Tina just tossed her paper towel away and said, “Thanks, Brittany.”

* * *

Tina had a love/hate relationship with her art class. Her original course choices had her signing up for a European history course she had been excited about, but not enough students registered for it. The class was cancelled and the three that wanted it were put into other places. Her options had been a girl’s PE class run by Coach Sylvester or beginner art, which isn’t really a choice at all, so her third period went from the Protestant Reformation to paint splatters.

She had been dreading a class full of freshman until she walked in the first day to see Puck and Finn poking each other with markers at one of the three person tables. Apparently they had been told to put one more class in their schedule to round out senior year and they picked the one that sounded the easiest with openings for both of them.

When she walked in and dropped her bag on the table, both boys gave their customary glance and nod. Finn went back to his fourth period math homework, while Puck continued fiddling with his iPod. Glad to finally have a nonreaction to her shirt from someone she knew, Tina set about getting out her watercolors and paper from her section of the closet. The teacher lazily took attendance and encouraged them to work on their individual projects, before disappearing to the back of the classroom to watch her latest Netflix show. It was shaping up to be a normal class, doing mediocre projects with no instruction, when she realized the boys next to her weren’t even pretending to work. When she looked up, they were both staring openly at her. Or more accurately, her chest. “What?”

Finn blushed bright red and turned away, but Puck continued to stare. “Is that an offer?”

Playing dumb,Tina asked, “Is what an offer?”

“The chance to round out my total.”

Now she was genuinely confused. “What total?”

“I’ve gotten up close and personal with the girls of almost every one of the girls in glee. Santana, Brittany, Quinn, Lauren, Sugar, Rachel,” Puck explained, ignoring Finn’s pained expression. “I even got some indirect contact from Mercedes when we dated for five minutes. You’re the only one standing between me and a perfect record.”

“Well, you’re not getting it today,” she said as she rinsed her paintbrush. “Brittany already got a handful in the bathroom this morning, and that’s my daily limit for non-Mike groping.”

Now both of them were paying full attention. “What?” Finn asked.

“It’s Brittany.” Tina shrugged. “I’m sure Santana has already talked to her about personal space and whose boobs she’s allowed to grab. At least you’re asking first.” She got a few more swipes of the wash down before Puck interrupted her again.

“So wait, you might actually let me feel your boobies?”

“I might choreograph a duet for us in which we dance chest to chest. That count?”

Puck nodded enthusiastically. Finn just stared, confused. “But why?”

“Far be it from me to stand in the way of perfection.”

* * *

Everyone knew that Jacob Ben Israel was a sneaky bastard, but it was still a surprise to have a microphone shoved in her face as soon as Tina closed her locker before lunch.

“Whatever it is, Jacob, the answer is no,” she huffed, turning towards the lunch room and bypassing him. Undeterred, he followed her.

“Tina Cohen-Chang, is it true that you are selling your breasts in an attempt to raise money for the glee club’s costume budget after having embezzled it all for your new wardrobe?”

“Go away, JBI.”

“What about the rumors that you are donating them to unfortunate underclassmen who have yet to experience the wonder that is the female upper body?”

“No comment.” She was almost to the cafeteria and the relative safety of her friends.

“How does your boyfriend, football player and dancing machine Mike Chang feel about this blatant display of infidelity on your part?”

“None of your business.” She had one hand on the door, but Jacob cut in front of her and asked one more question.

“What exactly is the purpose of this attention-seeking stunt? Glee awareness, personal infamy, a dare from Santana Lopez? The people want to know!”

Realizing that she wasn’t going to get into lunch without some kind of comment, Tina took a deep breath and looked at the camera.

“I am trying to raise awareness for women to self-screen. That is all. I am not selling anything, I’m not donating my body, and I’m definitely not cheating on Mike. Even if this were a dare from Santana, she’d probably make it a condition that I not tell you that.” Glaring at Jacob, she asked. “Any other questions?”

“May I do the honors?” he leered.

Without answering, Tina shoved him aside and stalked into the cafeteria.

* * *

The note summoning her to the guidance counselor’s office in the middle of class made her curious. She wasn’t having any issues with her classes that she was aware of, and though she had been doing preliminary research into colleges, it was a little early for the school to start caring about that. So when she knocked on Miss Pillsbury’s door, it was with a degree of confusion. “You wanted to see me?”

Miss Pillsbury looked up from writing something in her calendar and smiled. “Yes, Tina. Please, come in and sit down.”

Tina dropped into the chair closest to the door, just in case she needed to make a quick escape. “I’m not really sure why I’m here.”

“Yes, well, there have been some concerns brought to me today by various teachers,” the guidance counselor said. “Regarding your wardrobe?”

She should have known. Barely restraining herself from rolling her eyes, Tina bit out, “I’m not violating the dress code. I checked.”

“And that’s why you’re here instead of in Principal Figgin’s office. Not only that, but he refused to see you for any clothing related infractions.” Tina couldn’t help the grin that spread across her face, knowing that her Asian vampire threats still worked. “But some people, myself and Mr. Schuester included, are a little worried about you.” She turned around and pulled out a pamphlet from the rack behind her. When she slid it towards Tina, the words _It’s Okay to Be a Little Slutty_ were plastered in red on the front.

Tina shoved it back. “Miss Pillsbury, I’m completely comfortable with my sexuality. What I’m uncomfortable with is the automatic sexualization of my body in our society.” It was a discussion she’d heard before, and was glad to have the chance to use her points. “I am trying to raise awareness of preventative health measures for women. That’s all.”

Miss Pillsbury seemed stuck somewhere between shock and conceding the point, because she just nodded with wide eyes. When Tina stood quickly to leave, she didn’t stop her.

* * *

By the time glee club rolled around after school, Tina’s fuse was considerably shorter. She had expected some questioning, some backlash, even some insensitivity about her shirt, but not to the degree she’d gotten it. Her last teacher had nearly given her a detention, and the one before that seemed to think she was having some kind of crisis. (Tina bet she had been one of the ones to talk to Miss Pillsbury.) Even her friends had been less than supportive.

Steeling herself against the inevitable onslaught of questions from the people on the other side of the door who hadn’t seen her all day, Tina slipped into the choir room.

Avoiding Mr. Schue’s concerned gaze and Puck’s joking leer, she claimed a seat in the back row. There was no set agenda for the day, which meant a Rachel solo followed by some kind of discussion of her strengths and weaknesses. Tina pulled out her phone to play Tetris. She had just cleared the second level when someone sat down beside her.

“Well, now I see what all the fuss is about. I have to say, I approve.”

Tina looked over at Kurt, who was smiling softly. “You do?”

“Of course I do. Self-exams are very important for women, and it’s never too early to get the message out and start doing them.”

“Finally, thank you!” Tina threw her arms around Kurt, hugging his neck fiercely. “I have been dealing with people all day who didn’t understand.”

“Well they should,” Kurt said firmly. “Especially our girls. I’m not going to lose one of you to the heinous bitch that is breast cancer, not without a fight.” Tina pulled back, eyeing Kurt with confusion. “My mom--” he said, and the pieces began falling into place. “She was good at denial and ignoring the signs, so she didn’t know until her doctor told her. By that time, it had metastasized and there was no real stopping it. There were a few rounds of chemo and radiation, but mostly they just made her comfortable.”

“Kurt, I--”

“I’m fine,” he said. “Promise. It just gets to me sometimes.”

“And that’s completely okay,” she said, hugging him again. “I know you miss her. But you know what?” At his questioning noise, she continued. “She and women like her are the reason I’m wearing this shirt and getting into all kinds of trouble today.” He snorted softly into her hair. “I’m going to make sure that none of our friends go down that route. We’re going to be around to bug you for a long time.”


End file.
